One Can Hope
by Clever Ink Slinger
Summary: From the very first time that Astoria Greengrass saw Bill Weasley, she had found him exciting. Now an adult working at Gringotts she still holds that torch of interest. Only, Astoria feels that he's out of bounds because he's married to Fleur. But Bill is about to drop a game changing bomb on her that she never expected.


**Challenge(s)/Prompt(s):** The Matchmaker Challenge(Bill Weasley/Astoria Greengrass)  
 **Length:** Drabble – 794 words!  
 **Rating:** K  
 **Pairing or Characters:** Bill Weasley and Astoria Greengrass. With mentions of Fleur Delacour, Draco Malfoy, Scorpius Malfoy, Mr. and Mrs Malfoy, Bill's children, and his nieces and nephews.  
 **Thanks:** To my new found friend Kayleigh for take the time to read over this for me. I really appreciate it Kay!  
 **Disclaimer:** Though it pains me to say so, I do not own the rights to anything that belongs to the Harry Potter universe, nor do I make any money from writing about them. The only thing(s) that I can claim as mine own are the ideas and/or characters that may be woven into the wonderful world of all that is Harry Potter. Everything else is used in the spirit of good-natured fun or naughty shenanigans. What can I say? I just like to play!  
 **Author's Notes:** Please forgive me if you find errors throughout this story. There were some issues with the word processor during editing. I've given it a once over, but if there are issues I truly apologize. I'm only human.

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 **One Can Hope**

The first time Astoria Greengrass ever laid her hazel eyes on Bill Weasley was during the Triwizard Tournament in her second year at Hogwarts. At first she'd simply looked upon him with curiosity over his presence at the Gryffindor house table. He was unlike anyone that she had ever seen before. Though it was all too obvious that he belonged to the rest of the Weasley clan, there was something distinctly rebellious about him which made him stand apart from the rest. She wasn't sure exactly what it was, but it sparked her interest all the same. It may have been his long fiery hair which was pulled back into a leather thong at the base of his neck. Or perhaps the ominous fang that dangled from his earlobe. Whatever it was, he just seemed so—magnificent!

Long years had passed since the day she'd looked across the Great Hall with such curiously. Much had changed in her life over that time. Alliances were made, friendships were formed or broken, war was waged, unnecessary deaths occurred, evil people were defeated, and she experienced a brand new beginning of sorts. Astoria had then fallen into a tremulous marriage with Draco Malfoy. During that union she dealt with the hurtful disapproval of her in-laws, suffered through Draco's adulterous escapades, given birth to a handsome son who was accidentally conceived in a last-ditch attempt to save their marriage, underwent an ugly divorce, and was thrown out into the world where she struggled to make a life for herself and Scorpius.

It was when she finally landed a job a Gringotts that she found herself again drawn to Bill Weasley.

She cast a sneaky peek from her escritoire to where he sat on the edge of his desk talking enthusiastically to a goblin. Looking at him sitting there was a grin on his good-looking features, Astoria thought that not much had changed about him. Sure he looked older by a few years and there was a long scar running a ragged line down his handsome face, but he still remained very much the same as the day she'd first clapped eyes on him. His hair remained much longer than most wizards she associated with, and nowadays he let it hang loosely around his face. She thought that the scar paired with his wild red hair gave him the air of a dangerous man, and perhaps that was what attracted her so much.

She turned her gaze away, lest he catch her drooling over him, and then let her thoughts wander. From what she could tell through the rumors swirling around Gringotts, as well as what she could see with her own eyes, Bill had faced a lot over the years as well. What Astoria found the hardest to accept was the fact that Bill was happily married to that French woman, Fleur Delacour. If there was even a hint that he might be available Astoria knew she wouldn't hesitate a moment to catch his attention. She may not have been the fair-haired beauty that his half-veela wife was, but Astoria was fully confident that her dark features were pretty enough to snag his interest. And yet, as she thought these things, Astoria realized in the end it didn't matter. Bill was married and she was no home-wrecker.

Astoria was so distracted with her thoughts she didn't realize that Bill was making his way toward her until she heard his rumbling voice say, "Are you thinking about your son?"

"E—e—excuse me?" Astoria stammered, feeling like a complete imbecile for tripping over her words.

A friendly smile crinkled the corners of his blue gaze when her eyes met his. He crouched down beside her so that he could speak quietly, "I thought perhaps you were thinking about Scorpius. You've been away from work for the last couple of days and someone mentioned it was because he was ill. How is he doing?"

"O—oh," her cheeks burned with embarrassment at her continued idiocy. She took a deep breath and said, "yes, he picked something up from his father's house. You know kids, they're always getting into things they should be in. But, he's doing much better now, thank you."

"I'm glad to hear it. My kids are always coming back from their mum's sick. She tells me that it's because they pick things up from my house because of my nieces and nephews, before going to her house. He shook his head at the thought. Anyways, I just wanted to ask how he was."

Bill gave her another smile before pushing to his full height and turned to walk back to his desk. His words left her staring after him in open-mouthed disbelief because he and Fleur were no longer living together.

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 **A/N:** I really appreciate all of the people who take the time to read and review. I respect positive comments and constructive criticism. Both help to make me a better author which in turn makes my writing style improve for the better. On top of that I truly enjoy responding to all of your reviews. Also, thank you to those of you who favourite and/or follow any of my stories. It means so very much to me! So, thank you all so much!. You're all wee gems! **=)**


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